March 12, 2013 - Oilers at Avalanche

 

The Avalanche came out flat this time against the Oilers, and the only puck that ended up behind the Oilers goalie was called off due to Landeskog's presence in the crease. I always enjoy shooting the Oilers thanks to all their young stars and the energy they bring with them from the great white north.

February 10, 2012 - Hurricanes at Avalanche

One of the most exciting endings to a hockey game I've ever seen. Ryan O'Reilly stole the pick in the neutral zone and ripped a shot past Cam Ward with a mere 1.2 seconds remaining in the overtime period. I got the shot and we got to leave without having to sit through a shootout.



In the above shot, I like the crowd reactions and faces to the O'Reilly's game winning shot.



Stastny and the rest of his line celebrate a second period goal.

December 19, 2011 - Flyers at Avalanche

For the second time in a week, the Avalanche blew a one-goal lead with less than 30 seconds on the clock, and for the second time in a week, they won in the shootout.

It was sweet to shoot legendary player Jaromir Jagr as he continues to rack up points. He now has well over 1600 points.









Duchene snuck this one past popular goaltender Ilya Bryzgolov.



Ryan O'Reilly celebrates the game winner in the shootout win.

December 4, 2011 - Red Wings at Avalanche

3rd home win in a row for the Avalanche, against a typically tough Red Wings team that looked sloppy this particular Sunday night.


Ryan O'Reilly had this excellent shot amidst a crowd of Red Wings players and a well-positioned Ty Conklin. GOAL to add to his night where he already had an assist.

O'Reilly celebrates his first point of the night.

Semyon Varlamov wasn't bad either, holding the Red Wings to two goals. Here he stuffs a point-blank shot.

January 4, 2011 - Sabres at Avalanche

Can't shoot the Sabres without trying to get something good of Ryan Miller. Here our guy O'Reilly is in on the action in the crease. Thoughts are with that kid tonight.



Duchene and O'Reilly, celebrating an overtime win.

March 24, 2010 - Kings at Avalanche

I had been looking forward to shooting the Kings, since they are having a pretty good year and didn't visit Denver up to this point. I focused on star Anze Kopitar (looking like Darth Vader with those dark circles around his creepy eyes) and former Av Ryan Smyth (below). Both players are having good years.


Los Angeles Kings left wing Ryan Smyth (94) attempts to wrap the puck past Colorado Avalanche center Ryan O'Reilly (37) as goalie Craig Anderson (41) minds the net during a regular season game between the Colorado Avalanche and the Los Angeles Kings at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.


The Av's had a nice 3-1 lead going into the 3rd period, but of course played only defense for the final period of regulation and gave up the tying goal with only a few minutes left in regulation. It almost seemed like both teams wanted to go to a shootout, and the Av's won by shutting down both Kopitar and Smyth while the Av's Peter Mueller and Chris Stewart each scored.

March 6, 2010 - Blues at Avalanche

Nice easy win for the Av's, led by a Chris Stewart hat trick. None of the goals happened in front of me, but I found some nice celebration.

Anderson faced the greater number of shots, and stopped enough to earn the win. Here he gets a nice little congratulations tap by Stewart, who was not only the star of the game, but earned the honor of being named the NHL star of the week. Nice.

I also liked this shot of the bench celebrating a Milan Hejduk goal. He had two as well - in his first game back for the team.

January 22, 2010 - Predators at Avalanche

Another win for the Av's, this one was something of a nailbiter. 2-1 victory. Had a nice shot of the game-winner from Brandon Yip - and it was nearly identical to the shot used by Denver Post photographer Karl Gehring (see the photo used with this article: http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_14252418). I admire Karl's ability to always nail the key moments from up above of both hockey and baseball.



I also liked this shot of rookies T.J. Galiardi and Ryan O'Reilly discussing an upcoming penalty kill. These "defensive forwards" have stepped up and been awesome to watch when the man advantage is for the other team.

January 16, 2010 - Devils at Avalanche

Av's won this one. Put up 2 against guaranteed hall-of-famer Martin Brodeur (plus an empty-netter). As always, fun to shoot an Eastern Conference team. Nothing too crazy about the images. Here's a shot of O'Reilly slapping a shot between a few Devils defenseman.



Oilers tonight, so I'll post soon.

December 19, 2009 - Blue Jackets at Avalanche

Av's score a goal in the first minute, two more in the next 4 minutes, then another at 8:02 into the 1st period. Blue Jackets came back with 2 in the 2nd but could never recover from the early deficit (Av's added an insurance goal in the 3rd to make it 5-2 final). A player named Brandon Yip played well in his NHL debut. Bernie had a Santa Clause outfit on. The evening featured the 3rd smallest attendance figure in the history of the club in Colorado with 11,782 announced (on a Saturday no less).

Here's an image of rookie center Ryan O'Reilly getting stopped on a breakaway by a Columbus winger Jacob Voracek. I didn't actually get action on any of the goals, because they were all scored at the far end of the ice from me (the scoring judge told me that the ice was tilted). Great game for the boys in maroon and blue, even if the outcome was never in doubt from the beginning.



A couple more western conference teams visit this month. The Ducks of Anaheim visit on the 22nd, then the Stars of Texas on the 26th. I'll post after both. Thanks for looking.

December 11, 2009 - Lightning at Avalanche

The Lightning came to town on Friday night. Even though it was an Eastern Conference team, with some legitimate stars, on a Friday night, the Pepsi Center was still eerily empty. How much are scalpers charging these days? I would think you could get in for about $15. So do it.

The game was a see-saw if I've ever seen one. The Lightning came out skating circles around a surprised Av's squad. However, by the 3rd period, the Av's had adjusted to the play and tied the game at a goal a piece. In the 3rd the Av's truly outplayed the lightning, but the game still went to a shootout, which the Av's won on a Wojtek Wolski delayed-release backhanded flip.

I chose this shot because I like what O'Reilly is for the team right now. He's a playmaker and a face for the young club. I hope he has a great and long career, so these images of him as a teenager will age as well as he does.


Colorado Avalanche center Ryan O'Reilly (37) takes a shot during a regular season game between the Colorado Avalanche and the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.